How would you feel if you work for a boss who is constantly focused on something else – other than you? Or who constantly equates your efforts with how much you’re costing? Or who notices every mistake but forgets a simple “thank you” when you get something right [or God forbid you even save some money with a new idea]? Or who changes business direction every week? Or who expects you to work as hard as she does – for one tenth the income?

If you haven’t yet read John Gray’s book “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus” then read it soon. Your local bookstore will have it, or try clicking on the book cover. Although it focuses on relationships between men and women – and the vast differences between the 2 sexes – it has a lot of lessons for relationships between bosses and employees. As business owners we expect our employees to be “clones” of ourselves. Which is why we expect them to have the same level of initiative; to have the same goal-driven focus; to worry about the business as much as we do; to have the same drive as we do.

But let’s be honest – any employee at that level would scare the heck out of most of us! We probably wouldn’t be able to work with such a person because they would constantly be questioning every decision – pretty much like we have to.

Your own business is not a little big business. It operates differently, and has a different focus. You’re not trying to please a bunch of shareholders – just yourself and your spouse [and maybe a few partners].

Which means your business needs a LEADER. That’s YOU! And the people who work for you represent your TEAM. I am going to head off into a few rugby analogies – so if you don’t like rugby substitute hockey, soccer, baseball, or any TEAM sport of your choice.

A few words on team sports. If a team wants to win, it appoints a leader/captain on the field, and a coach/manager off the field. Then the team practises a bit - that’s to ensure that the various players know what they’re EACH supposed to do. Each player will slot into a specific position and tend to specialise in that position – and develop relationships with the players on each side of that position.

What would happen if they never practiced? What would happen if the captain kept changing players’ positions in mid-game? What would happen if the captain complained about everything – without ever complimenting anyone? What would happen if the team actually did win a game and the captain took all the kudos? What would happen if the captain put someone in the team who had never played the game before – and then didn’t train that person? What would happen if the captain took money to throw a game? [Couldn’t resist that – sorry Hansie!]

What would happen if the captain stopped talking with this team? What would happen if the captain didn’t listen to this teams suggestions? What would happen if the captain tried to play all the positions simultaneously by himself?

Yet that’s EXACTLY what most of us smaller business owners do. Your business team needs a captain. You are it!

But it also needs to function as a team – uncomfortable as that may be. I have often wondered how difficult it must be to keep 15 testosterone enhanced men focused on a single goal – without their individual egos getting in the way. Yet that’s what the captain needs to do to win. You need to do something similar.

In my experience we business owners fail in a few areas. We aren’t consistent. We change focus whenever a new opportunity/challenge arrives – and this can disturb our staffs immensely. We almost always focus on the hole – and we never see the donut! We expect our people to “know” what we want – without explaining it carefully. [Yes I know that your secretary is supposed to know what to do – and she does – but for her previous boss!]

Which reminds me, when last did you actually PAY to have some training for your staff? [Since I do training this is important to me!] But the reality is that we small business owners invest almost nothing in our staff’s skills – yet we expect miracles.

We usually remember to complain, but we often forget to thank or praise. We’re usually not very inspiring. If your people are inspired they will follow you into Hell! For most of us right now – our people ARE Hell!

A good boss is a bad employee, and a good employee is a bad boss. The traits that make you such a fine boss are exactly those you don’t want in a staff member!

In SA we have one more unique problem – which we loosely call cultural differences. So the next time a staff member does something totally stupid – count to 10, climb into their shoes, review the day they’ve had so far – and ask yourself honestly – would I have done any better out of these circumstances? A few relevant questions to help you along the way… Did I also get up at 4:30am? What temperature was my bedroom when I rose? How many people slept in my bedroom with me? What temperature was my shower? Did the taps work? Did I also spend 2 hours in buses and trains to just get to work? Did I actually have breakfast this morning? [There are many more but I’m already so far ahead that I can’t begin to imagine some of the challenges some of our staff face.]

The true secret to motivating staff is simple – THANK YOU. The more often you say it – the more motivated your team will be. [Had a long chat with a hero working with volunteers and she says the ONLY way to get any action – lots of thank-yous.]

If you’d like a bunch of other ideas on rewarding and motivating staff – read Bob Nelson’s book – “1001 Ways to Reward Employees” available at your local bookstore.

© Peter Carruthers, www.petesweekly.co.za

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